Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan indicted for inciting violence against military
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan anti-terrorism court indicted on Thursday former prime minister Imran Khan along with dozens of other Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) politicians on charges of inciting supporters to attack the country’s military installations on May 9, 2023.
Following Khan’s arrest on May 9 last year, his supporters had attacked and torched several military buildings and offices to protest against what they describe as the illegal detention of their leader. At least eight people were killed in the violence that followed Khan’s arrest on alleged graft charges.
Khan pleaded not guilty to the charges while the court also indicted more than 60 others, including opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, in the same case linked to the attack on the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. In addition, the court has ordered that detained former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, currently in Lahore jail, be produced in court.
The court also ordered the arrests of several PTI politicians, including Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Khan’s party has been in govt. Arrest warrants were also issued for 45 absconding accused, with the court warning that legal proceedings would begin to declare them fugitives if they failed to appear.
Judge Amjad Ali Shah conducted the hearing at a makeshift court set up in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Khan has been incarcerated. Following the indictment, the court fixed Dec 10 as the date for recording prosecution’s evidence.
Khan has been facing anti-terrorism charges in connection with the violence, which is viewed as the most serious challenge to the military’s dominance in Pakistan’s history. Several of Khan’s supporters have already been sentenced in connection with the violence.
The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been named in more than 150 cases since he left office in April 2022 and has been behind bars for more than a year.
